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Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH)
By Thulaja, Naidu Ratnala written on 1997-09-29
National Library Board Singapore
Comments on article: InfopediaTalk
History
The beginnings
The health conditions in the 19th century was deplorable with the poor and sick given little outlet to seek medical treatment. A pauper's hospital, the precursor of the Singapore General Hospital set up in 1821 by the British government, was in the 1830s beset with problems due to lack of funding. Tan Tock Seng (b.1798, Malacca, Malaysia - d.16 March 1850, Singapore), an immigrant from the Fujien province in China who became a wealthy merchant, donated $5,000 to set up a hospital for the poor. He was responding to the Governor's request for advice on how to legally enforce the rich to contribute to the welfare of the less well-off. In a letter dated 17 October 1843 to Governor W.J. Butterworth, he also offered land for the hospital. On 25 July 1844, the foundation stone for Tan Tock Seng's Pauper Hospital was laid on Pearl's Hill. The hospital was first called the "Chinese Pauper's Hospital", which was the name engraved on the brass plate commemorating the founding of the hospital. It was later called "Tan Tock Sing Hospital", and it was only in the 1850s when the spelling of the name was officially changed to "Tan Tock Seng".
Early developments
Although the foundation stone was laid in 1844, the building was only ready in 1849. The construction took three years but had to remain vacant for the next two years because of insufficient funds to run the hospital. Bureaucracy prevented the government from footing the bill for the operational costs as originally intended. In the meantime, the patients were housed in an attap shed at the foot of Pearl's Hill. It took a storm in 1849, which brought down this shed, to initiate the move of patients to the hospital building itself. Tan Tock Seng Hospital was the first hospital to be built totally from private funds. The architect was John Turnbull Thomson, and he gave the building a western classical design. It had an imposing facade of columns which were erected side by side at the base of the hill. In 1852, after many initial hurdles including staff shortage, the hospital committee decided to ask for public donations. One response came from Tan Kim Cheng, Tan Tock Seng's son, who donated $2000. He also built a water tank for the hospital and helped to lower the costs of burying the dead. Donations came from other quarters too: the Parsee community donated $1000 in 1852 and Syed Allie bin Mohd Aljunied, an Arab merchant, donated $1,000 in 1854.
In 1856, the hospital faced another
crisis when the government decided to fortify Pearl's Hill.
Guns were to be placed atop this hill, at the hospital's
site, and cannons were to be positioned at Fort
Canning. These two areas were meant
not only for guarding the town but also as refuge for the
Europeans. This move was inspired by the 1856's
Sino-British war and the Indian Mutiny incident in 1857. The
hospital had to be moved to a new building and site, and the
junction of Serangoon Road and Balestier Road was chosen. Funds
for the construction of the new hospital came from both
quarters: the government as well as the family of Tan Tock
Seng. Tan Kim Cheng supervised the hospital's move to the
new site. His mother, Lee Seo Neo, paid for the construction of
a female ward in 1858. Tan Kim Cheng also paid an additional
$3,340 when the Chief Engineer saw that the building would cost
more than the given budget. In June 1861, the patients were
moved to the new hospital which had two new wards: one
for lepers and the other for women. The hospital was
designed by the same architect, John Turnbull Thomson. It
gained the nickname Rumah Miskin or "House of the
Poor". Living conditions at the hospital however did not
improve with the move as cleanliness was very difficult to
enforce among the patients. Many of them ran away from the
hospital, exposing their sores as they begged for money. When
rattan strokes as punishment was introduced for these runaways,
some of them began to hang themselves out of sheer despair.
Many of them, being ex-convicts, turned back to crime for
money.
Reorganisation and expansion of Tan Tock Seng
Hospital
In 1867, the Straits Settlements became a Crown Colony, under
the Colonial Office in London. A new governor, Sir Henry St.
George Ord, took over the Straits Settlements. In 1873, the
hospital was placed under the direct supervision of a
government official. This move was the first direct
governmental support for the institution. Things improved from
then on. In 1879, Tan Beng Swee, a philanthropist, bore the
cost of the construction of three new wards, and the Chinese
community donated $15,000 to the hospital.
In 1882, 444 cases of malaria and 50 cases of beri-beri were
recorded. The number of malaria cases was considered unusually
high. Sited at low grounds, the lack of proper drainage for
rain water perhaps contributed to mosquito breeding. In 1904,
to curb the spread of beri-beri, the hospital committee
suggested a new site for the hospital, between Moulmein Road
and Balestier Road. The new hospital received a generous
injection of funds of $50,000 by Towkay Loke Yew. This was used
to purchase land for the hospital. In 1909, the new Tan Tock
Seng Hospital was constructed along Moulmein Road.
Occupying an area of around 1.05 ha and populated by 1,028 beds
in different blocks, it was designed and built by the Public
Works Department. The building, built in cast iron and timber,
had an unpretentious but attractive facade. New wings were
added to the hospital in 1919 and a 6-storey Main Ward Block
was built in 1956. Old wards were demolished to pave way for
the construction of five new blocks in the late 1980s.
During the Japanese Occupation, the hospital was renamed as
Hakuai Byoin, meaning "Universal Love
Hospital", and it was used by the Japanese as their
civilian hospital.
In 1961, the hospital was taken over fully by the government. A
new building was proposed in the early 1990s to keep up with
modern management and technology. The construction of this
S$580 m building, at Jalan Tan Tock Seng, started in 1994 and
was completed in 1999. Officially opened on 1 April 1999 by DPM
Lee Hsien Loong, the new hospital became fully operational in
May 1999. With the move, the hospital redesigned itself,
adopting a new logo as well.
Description & Facilities
Tan Tock Seng Hospital, a 15-storey building, has a total floor
area of 19,000 sq m. It has 1,211 beds in 34 wards and is made
up of four blocks. The hospital is also home to a small museum
housing artefacts related to health care.
On 1 April 1992, the hospital was re-structured. The hospital
become a regional and national referral centre for five core
disciplines: Rheumatology & Immunology, Respiratory
Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, Rehabilitation Medicine and
Neurosciences. New one-stop clinic services were introduced by
the hospital from 1993 onwards. They include the Continence
Clinic, Memory Clinic, Diabetic Clinic, Stoma Clinic, Breast
Clinic, Vascular Clinic and Voice Restoration Clinic. On
similar lines, TTSH introduced one-stop centres from 1994
onwards: Laser Bronchology Suite, Neurodiagnostic Laboratory
and Non-invasive Cardiac Laboratory. In 1995, the Communicable
Diseases Centre (CDC) was
restructured and was put directly under the administration of
the Tan Tock Seng Hospital. In 2000, TTSH became a member of
the National Healthcare Group.
Contributions
The Tan Tock Seng Hospital has scored several firsts in the
medical world. It produced the island's first batch of
medical students in 1910. A medical school was set up in 1905
at Sepoy Lanes and clinical teaching classes were established
at TTSH in 1907. In 1930, the hospital set up laboratories and
X-ray facilities. This formed the base of its tuberculosis
treatment facility, and in 1949, the hospital was designated as
a centre for tuberculosis (TB) treatment. In 1997, TTSH came up
with a new programme called the Singapore Tuberculosis
Elimination Programme (STEP) which aimed at eradicating TB from
Singapore completely. The programme was launched nation-wide in
1998.
In 1967, the hospital made news when it performed the first
open heart surgery in Singapore. In 1976, it followed with the
first coronary by-pass surgery to be performed in Singapore. In
1985, the hospital became the first to perform a bone
marrow transplant in Singapore. In 1990, the hospital made news
again with a unique surgery. Dr. Lee Kheng Hin made use of
CT-directed stereostatic system to locate and remove a small
and deeply located brain tumour. This surgery was the first of
its kind to be performed in Southeast Asia.
In 2003, the hospital and its staff were at the forefront in
the fight against SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in
Singapore. The CDC at the hospital became a diagnosis centre
for patients suspected of SARS, and patients diagnosed with
SARS in Singapore were isolated and quarantined in the Tan Tock
Seng Hospital.
Timeline
1844 : Hospital first established at Pearl's
Hill.
1849 : The hospital gets its first patients.
1857 : Hospital is moved to Balestier Plain.
1909 : Hospital is moved to Moulmein Road.
1910 : First batch of medical students pass out.
1967 : First open-heart surgery in Singapore is
performed.
1972 : A Department of Neurosurgery and Neurology is
established.
1989 : Opens the first Geriatric unit in
Singapore.
1994 : The first hospital in Singapore to register on
the internet.
1996 : First hospital in the region to use functional
MRI in the treatment of stroke, epilepsy and tumour.
1997 : First hospital in the region to use
intra-operative portable mobile CT scanner to remove brain
tumours.
2000 : Hospital becomes a member of National Healthcare
Group.
Address
Tan Tock Seng Hospital
11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng
Singapore 308433
Author
Naidu Ratnala Thulaja
References
Buckley, C. B. (1984). An anecdotal history of old times in
Singapore 1819-1867 (p. 410). Singapore: Oxford University
Press.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 BUC)
Hall-Jones, J., & Hooi, C. (1979). An early surveyor in
Singapore: John Turnbull Thomson in Singapore 1841-1853
(pp. 62-63). Singapore: National Museum.
(Call no.: SING 526.90924 THO)
Lee, S. H. (1994). 150 years of caring: The legacy of Tan
Tock Seng Hospital (pp. 13-26, 31-36, 37-59).
Singapore: Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
(Call no.: SING 362.11095957 LEE)
Lee, Y. K. (1978). The medical history of early
Singapore (pp. 83-189). Tokyo: Southeast Asian Medical
Information Center.
(Call no.: RCLOS 610.95957 LEE)
Nadarajah, I. (1968). A brief early history of the hospital
services (2 vols.). Singapore: General Hosptial.
(Call no.: RCLOS 610.95957 GEN)
Tan Tock Seng Hospital. (2000). Tan Tock Seng
Hospital: A distinguished past, a vision for the
future (pp. 9, 11-19, 22-33).
Singapore: Author.
(Call no.: RSING 362.11095957 TAN)
Turnbull, C.M. (1989). A History of Singapore:
1819-1988 (pp. 63, 76). Singapore: Oxford University
Press.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 TUR)
Tay, J. (1999, January 7). Keeping it all under one new roof at
Tan Tock Seng. The Straits Times, Home, p. 26.
Wee, L. (2000, April 1). Check in. The Straits Times,
Life!, p. 22.
The information in this article is valid as at 2000 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
Subject
Architecture and Landscape>>Building Types>>Civic and Administrative Buildings
Politics and Government>>Health
Hospitals--Singapore
Tan Tock Seng Hospital--Singapore--History
Arts>>Architecture>>Public and commercial buildings
Law and government>>Health services
Health and Medicine>>Health services
>> Tan Tock Seng
>> Communicable Diseases Centre (CDC)
>> Pearl's Hill
>> John Turnbull Thomson
All Rights Reserved. National Library Board Singapore 2004.
